The family stayed at Li's house until the evening before going home, and when they went, the car was full, and when they came back, the car was still full, dried fungus, apples, pears, pomegranates, and homemade moon cakes.

Xue Jiao and Qi Ping climbed into the carriage, and when they sat down, Li sighed and said: "Every year when I go back to your grandmother's house, I bring us a cart of things, in previous years, we had no money, and there were not many gifts for your grandmother's family, my mother's heart is always uncomfortable, I dreamed of buying good things for your grandma, and now I really got my wish." ”

Xue Jiao sat next to Li and listened to her sigh, how it was before, she didn't know, according to Mrs. Chen's character, if she didn't split up, the Li family would go to her mother's house, and at most she would bring two bags of fruits.

"Mother, grandma's family is so good to us, let's be filial to her in the future." Xue Jiao said to Li with a smile.

Li picked up a golden apple, this kind of apple doesn't look good-looking, small and pimple, but it tastes very delicious, sweet and fragrant and rustling, Li loves to eat this kind of apple, every year the Li family sends two bags to the Chen family, but Li can only eat a few, and the rest is divided by the upper room.

"It's still your grandma's apples delicious." Li sighed.

Xue Jiao thought of planting an orchard, so she told the Li family, and Qi Ping, Xue Ru, and Jing Hao nodded after hearing it.

"That's not easy, your grandfather and your uncle know how to plant fruit trees, so let's find a piece of land and ask them to help plant it." Li said.

A few children listened to it, not to mention how happy they were. Think of how happy it is to have an orchard at home, where in spring the red and white flowers bloom and clusters of flowers hang on the fruit trees, and in the fall, the trees are full of flowers and are replaced by trees full of fruits. A heavy scene of harvest.

Xue Jiao couldn't help but get drunk thinking about it.

It is not uncommon for people in the countryside to plant fruit trees, not only in Maoshan Village, but also in the whole Baitu Town, there will be a few fruit trees in the corner of the yard of every house, such as peach trees, apricot trees, pear trees, and cherry trees, which can be seen everywhere. There are also two peach trees and cherry trees in the courtyard of the Li family, and Xue Jiao doesn't know when these two trees were planted. It's been a few years since I looked at the thick roots. But with Mrs. Chen here, these two fruit trees are naturally classified as her trees, and this year, when the fruit is ripe, they will be divided into a few peaches and a few handfuls of cherries. The rest are all in the upper room, and usually Qi Ping can't help but pick a few cherries and will be reprimanded by Mrs. Chen, let alone eat with an open stomach.

If you have a fruit tree at home, you can eat it if you want. And no one will blame it.

From Lijiazhuang to Maoshan Village, the sun has set.

Everyone got out of the carriage and carried the souvenirs from the Li family back to the house from the carriage. The stone gave each of the two coachmen a dozen pieces of silver, and a large bag of fruit.

When he arrived at the house, Li didn't care about the side and washed his hands. first removed the hairpin ring in front of a bronze mirror, locked the phoenix hairpin crown gold bracelet and gold necklace into the cabinet, and left a silver-inlaid hair plug to wear it at home, Chen Xuejiao and Chen Xueru helped Li fetch water. Looking at her mother's careful energy, she couldn't help but laugh secretly, Xue Jiao teased Li: "Mother." You look good today, I see some of your sisters when you were a child look at you, their eyes are straight, it's not night yet, why did you take off this jewelry. ”

Going to her mother's house on the August Festival is a collusion in Baitu Town, and all the married daughters will go to their parents' house to give gifts a few days before the Half Moon Festival, and the Li family naturally met those sisters who grew up together. Everyone knows what the Li family was like in the past, but now they are standing there in a jeweled manner, and before they can speak, the brocade clothes on their bodies dazzle people's eyes. The Li family really didn't do it to show off, if it weren't for the clothes and jewelry that Chen Xiucai brought her, she wouldn't wear them again.

Li wiped his face, although the rouge on his face was washed away, his face was still ruddy, and he turned his head to his daughter and said: "We will wear it well for the rest of our lives, I am not used to it, these jewelry are heavy on my head, and my scalp is tight for a day." "Untie your hair and pull it into a homely bun, and think about it;" Don't take advantage of today, let's go to the room and send the gift over later. ”

"No wonder my mother quickly removed the hairpin ring, if my mother was dressed up, she should gossip when she got to the upper room." Xueru, who has always been loyal, also thought of this layer.

"Mother, are we going after dinner, or are we going now." Xue Jiao asked Li.

"Go now." As he spoke, Li took off the pomegranate skirt on his body, put on a cyan homely gown, pulled his hair back, and walked out with his two daughters.

When the people of Maoshan Village eat dinner, when the sun sets, there will be still residual light, and everyone eats the food in this light, and there is still lamp oil left. At this time, the smell of food next door came from the yard, and the sound of adults shouting at children to go home and eat could be heard. It's all at this time, why hasn't there been any movement in the upper room, and the stove in the pot house has not been lit yet.

Xuejiao and they ate heartily at Li's house at noon, and they ate snacks when they came, so they were not hungry, they wanted to wait until they finished giving gifts to the upper room and came back to eat.

The smell of food wafted from the three-room pot house in the courtyard, and Cai's saw that Dafang was back, so Xuewa sent a big bowl of bean paste to Dafang. This bean paste is made by Mrs. Cai with the ancestral secret recipe of the family, which is more fragrant than the ordinary sauce, and put a little bit in the steamed bun, which is more refreshing than eating vegetables, and Xue Jiao loves to eat this bean paste the most. Mrs. Cai likes the children in the house, and now the Cai family also went to her mother's house, and the Cai family specially brought a big bowl of sauce to the big house.

"It's so fragrant, is grandma better?" Xue Jiao took the sauce and couldn't help but poke it with her finger and put it in her mouth. Mrs. Cai was in the sesame oil workshop a few days ago, stepped on a slippery place, accidentally slipped there, and her wrist fell a large piece, please ask the doctor for medicine, Cai's went to serve for two days, and Li sent a package of medicinal herbs and two ginseng to the past, so Xue Jiao had this question.

"It's much better, but I can't carry heavy things in my hands." Xuewa said with a smile, seeing Xue Jiao with droplet-shaped earrings on her ears and a pomegranate red tuft of new clothes on her body, she quietly leaned into Xue Jiao's ear and said: "Sister Xuejiao, let me tell you, you went to grandma's house this morning, and were seen by the fourth aunt, and the fourth aunt went back to describe it to grandma, and the grandmother scolded a few words at that time." Later, my grandmother cried to my grandfather, saying that my aunt had come to visit my relatives in the past two days, and I wanted my uncle to pay for a pair of hairpin rings for my aunt, saying that my aunt had no one to support her in her mother-in-law's house, and it was time for my brother to get rich and use it. ”

Xue Jiao listened to this. sneered: "It's time to think of my father, where did our aunt take us in her eyes before." ”

"Who said it wasn't, I also heard that Brother Qi Lin was going home, and grandma planned to treat him, saying that everyone would know that he had taken the first place, and when you didn't come, you called my father over. Let my dad prepare a gift for Qi Lingo."

Xuewa's words have not yet fallen. I saw Zhang walk in.

Zhang stood at the door, his eyes looking around, and saw a gold bead in Xuewa's ear. He raised his voice and said: "Oh, Xuewa is only a big idea doll, and she has gold, because the third brother just called her poor in front of her mother." Could it be that your gold beads were given by your sister-in-law. The sister-in-law is really generous. ”

Xuewa said angrily: "You don't care who gives it." ”

Zhang's words are really right, this gold bead was indeed brought by Chen Xiucai from the south. Li gave Xuewa Xueyan a pair of each.

"Fourth aunt, what's the matter?" Xue Jiao straightened up and asked.

"Mother said to let you go to the room." After Zhang threw this sentence, he wanted to step in with his front foot, but was blocked by Xue Jiao rushing in front: "Fourth aunt." You go back and tell the milk first, and we'll go in a moment. ”

Two days ago, the news came that Chen Zigui went to the Qinglou, and the Zhang family still looked desperate. I don't know what kind of medicine Mrs. Chen poured her, and she came back to life with full blood in two days. I began to peep at every move of the big house all over the yard.

Li naturally heard it in the house, and as soon as Zhang left, he beckoned Xue Ruxue Jiao into the room, and pointed to the things on the table: "This is a gift to the upper room, you two are careful, take a look, but there is anything missing." ”

The table was full of things, and like Old Man Li, Chen Xiucai also brought an identical cane to Old Man Chen. There are a lot of gifts, but the price is not more expensive than that for the Li family, the left is just some silk, medicinal herbs, food, and a piece of pork bought from the town, these things are too heavy according to the standards of the countryside.

"And ten taels of silver." Li pinched the cloth bag.

"Okay, mother, I don't see anything missing, let's go now." Chen Xuejiao said.

The Li family called Chen Xiucai, Qi An, Qi Ping, and Jing Hao, and the family went to the upper room with the gifts.

Old man Chen was really happy when he saw the big house family coming in so ceremoniously, pulled out the chair to give way, and hugged Qi Ping in his arms.

In the morning, Dafang's family went to Li's house to visit relatives, she stood by the window and looked at it, she naturally saw Li's dress, and two big cars of things also fell into her eyes.

At that time, she was shocked when she saw the crown on Li's head, only to hear how Chen Xiucai had a big hair outside, and brought a few large boxes of things, she had never been to the North Wing to see it, and she was blown up in front of more than half of the people, and it was not a cash cow planted at home, how could it be so easy to get rich, and she faintly had the intention of watching jokes in her heart.

"Hurry up, what are you doing standing there, fourth daughter-in-law, you don't have tea." Mrs. Chen opened her mouth rarely.

"I haven't eaten dinner yet, let's eat in the upper room today." Old Man Chen spoke.

"No, Dad, these are all gifts for you, these two Tianwen concubines and Wen Ying are here, and everyone will get together for a reunion dinner." Chen Xiucai opened his mouth.

"Good! Good! Old man Chen's eyebrows trembled excitedly, the eldest and the third went out, the second family was in Xuzhou Mansion, and now there are fewer and fewer people in the family, and Old Man Chen is more and more nostalgic for the scene when everyone got together to live a lively life in the past.

"It just so happens that Ming'er Qilin is coming back." A rare smile appeared on Mrs. Chen's face, "Let's eat together tomorrow." ”

Chen Xiucai and Li naturally agreed.

After talking for a while, they dispersed.

"Boss, don't leave yet." Old Mrs. Chen stopped Chen Xiucai and waved her hand to let the rest of the people go back, "You go back first, I have something to say to the boss." ”

Li had to bring a few children out.

Mrs. Chen has always disliked the big house, why did she leave Chen Xiu to speak this time, a few children, you look at me, I look at you, I think it's incredible.

"Mother, you go back first, I'll listen." After Chen Xuejiao finished speaking, she sneaked under the windowsill of the landlord's house and listened to the movement inside.

“…… It's hard to be a stepmother, although I am not your mother, but I haven't treated you badly over the years, your family is so poor that you can study and marry your daughter-in-law. When you arrive, you can't forget Ben, I am also your mother on the name of a person who is not a parent. You are in trouble outside, I am for the good of your daughter-in-law and children, I am looking for your daughter-in-law to remarry, don't blame me. Now that you are developed, I don't ask you for anything, Wen Yan is your sister-in-law, a sister-in-law with a surname and a clan, shouldn't you support her? …… You hit the south to buy so many good things for your daughter-in-law and your children, you shouldn't give your sister-in-law a set of noodles, your sister-in-law came to the house these two days, don't want anything else, just ask for the same golden crown on your daughter-in-law's head. ”

Chen Xuejiao's face flushed angrily outside.

How long has the good life of their family been, and Mrs. Chen has come to ask for the east and west, this time it is a golden crown, and the next time it is the bottom of the family.

"Who buys so many good things? We wear all the money that my father earned hard outside, and the money that my mother worked hard to open an embroidery workshop, and my father came and went in the wind and rain outside, why didn't you care about a word. My mother is working hard at home, why don't you say help my mother when the wheat is harvested and the corn is planted. And my aunt, just thinking about other people's Qiao Zong'er, why can't I give up something, I almost burned Qi Ping last time, if I hadn't met Aunt Zhao, maybe Qi Ping would have been lost. ”

Chen Xuejiao lifted the curtain in the upper room and said angrily, without waiting for Mrs. Chen's reaction, she pulled Chen Xiucai and left.

Mrs. Chen made a fuss and broke a teacup. (To be continued)